Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 140604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 703(@200wpm)___ 562(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 703(@200wpm)___ 562(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Gabe turned to Keane. “We have to talk about something else.”
He knew what needed to happen now. He had to give up his playtime because something was far more important. “We have to call her parents. We can’t hide this. Jack needs to know. He’s going to be better at this than I am.”
“Better at what?” a deep voice asked. “Better at getting my baby girl put in the damn hospital?”
Keane’s spine went straight as he turned, dreading the next few minutes. “Mr. Barnes.”
Jack Barnes was still in great shape. The man was well into his sixties, but he looked like he could still kick some serious ass. “Mr. Rollins. I’ve heard you’ve done a good job so far, so I have to ask why you were at a bar with my daughter.”
“Jack,” a soft voice said. Abigail Barnes-Fleetwood was still gorgeous. She had an ageless beauty, as did the man at her side. Sam Fleetwood held his wife’s hand. “We talked about this. Please don’t do this right now.”
“We need to see Olivia. We need to make sure she’s fine before we make terrible choices that will most likely get one of us stuck in the doghouse,” Sam said.
The door to the ER opened, and a doctor appeared. “Mr. Barnes, if you’ll come back with us. Maybe you and her mom. We need to keep things to strictly family.”
Sam Fleetwood sighed. “Well, at least the doghouse is nicely furnished.”
The temperature in the room seemed to drop twenty degrees. Jack Barnes’s voice went arctic, and Keane was glad he wasn’t the one Jack was glaring at. “Dr…”
“Hayes.” The doctor paled and sounded breathless. “It’s Dr. Hayes. It’s hospital policy that we should only have family involved.”
“You’re new here, Dr. Hayes. I should know because my wife hired you. She’s on the hospital board. So I assume you’ve heard the gossip about my family. Biologically, Olivia is Sam’s child. We only found that out because of her blood type, though I always knew.” Jack looked back, and there was a tender expression on his face. “She’s got Sam’s smile and his heart.”
“Well, she got your stubbornness,” Sam replied with a grin.
Jack’s expression went cold when he looked back at the doctor. “So if your only terms for family are DNA, I suppose I should wait out here. Do you want me to wait out here, Dr. Hayes?”
The doctor’s head shook. “No, you should all come back. Uhm, her cousin is here. Although…I mean…is she adopted? She doesn’t…uhm…doesn’t…”
Miranda’s eyes rolled. “Are you talking about the fact that Gigi’s half black? So we can’t have family members with different skin colors?”
“Thank god.” Abigail looked like she sent thanks to the heavens. “I forgot Gigi was here. She’ll take care of her, Jack. Please.”
Jack huffed. “I can ruin you later.” He looked back at Keane and Garrett. “You don’t leave. Gabe, come with me. I need an update. Miranda, will you call Julian and let him know what’s happening? We had to take his chopper. Let him know we didn’t steal it for no reason.”
Miranda nodded, pulling out her cell as the group disappeared behind the ER doors.
And they were left on the wrong side.
Garrett started to follow them, a stubborn look on his face.
Keane held a hand out. “Tonight is not the time. Tonight we figure out how to update Jack Barnes on everything that’s happened.”
“How do we tell him we’ve been topping his baby girl?”
“I wasn’t going to tell him that, though I am going to explain that we’re dating Olivia.”
“Are we?” The question sounded oddly hollow coming from Garrett’s mouth.
Keane sank down on one of the uncomfortable chairs. “I think so. I think we’re making progress.”
“Or she’s enjoying the sex and likes knowing we have an end date.” Garrett sat down next to him.
Garrett could get seriously morose at times.
“She would tell us if that’s her plan. She also mentioned she wanted to take us to Gabe’s club. That’s her home club. She wouldn’t offer if she was only playing around,” Keane pointed out.
“She wouldn’t.” Miranda walked back toward them, sliding her phone into her purse. “I know you started out with all these parameters, and she needed them to feel safe, but I don’t think she’ll walk away easily. She’s been more herself than I’ve seen in a long time. Scott took a lot of her self-confidence. She didn’t love him. She didn’t mention love once when she talked about him. He fit into her life, and she thought it was time to start a marriage. But him leaving hurt her pride in a way she’s just now getting over.”
Pride. Olivia had a lot of it. She was the type of woman who took responsibilities on that she didn’t have to.
Miranda knew a lot about Olivia and her family. She might be able to help him understand. “She seems to be afraid she’s letting her parents down.”